


Bring Him Down

by hibiren



Series: Jay's Gladnis Collection [34]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Bargaining, Belts, Betrayal, Blood, Consensual Sex, Daggers, Dark, Dominance, Emotional, Emotions, Guns, Gunshot Wounds, Hair-pulling, Heavy Angst, Hospitals, Injury Recovery, Interrogation, Knifeplay, M/M, Mafia AU, Mafia Boss!Ignis, Major Character Injury, One Shot, Pain, Restraints, Rimming, Sexual Tension, Spanking, Suicidal Thoughts, Tension, UndercoverDetective!Gladio, Unresolved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:55:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23354296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hibiren/pseuds/hibiren
Summary: [Mafia Boss Ignis/Undercover Detective Gladiolus AU] Gladiolus had one mission: to arrest Ignis Scientia; the man at the top of every wanted list in town. Things had all been going to plan until it all unravels in a single instant, when Ignis discovers Gladiolus isn't who he claims to be.
Relationships: Gladiolus Amicitia/Ignis Scientia
Series: Jay's Gladnis Collection [34]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1151849
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	1. Bring Him Down

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheGatsbyGirl (Katarable)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katarable/gifts).



> This started off as a snippet of an idea that I really wasn't expecting to turn into 3,600+ words of tension, darkness, and angst aaaaaaaa - please keep the tags in mind as you read! This is a kind of whump-ish angst heavy gladnis fic so I wanted to give a bit of extra warning here!
> 
> Lots of thanks to gatsbygirl as well as my friends from the gladnis server for enabling this idea to happen after we all got carried away thinking about Mafia Boss Ignis, and encouraging me to write and share this! Yeeeess
> 
> Written while listening to: ["Point of No Return" by Starset](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0de-SmoVpiE)

Gladiolus was the type of man who preferred to spend his time blending in. And that was why he was the perfect man for the job. Someone of his rank and experience should have no problem sneaking his way into Scientia’s gang. Scientia, ever elusive, oversaw the biggest middle finger to the government that the Department had seen in decades. Scientia was playing with them and making it obvious. And he had to be stopped, before his actions ripped the town’s struggling control over them to shreds.

Months of careful planning, weeks spent worming his way into Scientia’s trusted inner circle - as his bodyguard no less… all of that had gone up in smoke the moment Scientia called him into his office. Everything had been going normal, as planned. He was used to spending hours stationed just out of range of the door standing guard and only letting those in who passed Scientia’s rigorous “approval” testing.

What Gladiolus hadn’t been expecting was for Ignis to put so much faith in him. Scientia - _Ignis,_ he’d even been permitted, on a rare occasion in private - needed someone to confide in. It burned Gladiolus deep in his chest to know that every exchange they had was being transmitted directly to Headquarters. Every conversation, every confession piled the evidence against him higher. These were words that had been spoken to Gladiolus in confidence, and it was the one time the always well-kept man fell apart. When no one but Gladiolus could see.

Scientia’s scarred brows furrowed and his good eye analyzed Gladiolus’ every move as he closed the door behind him.

“Sit.”

“Yes, sir.”

It was late. Past late. What meager yellow light streamed in from the street entered the room through the broken blinds, and the lamp atop Ignis’ desk fizzled every now and then. The lightbulb needed changing, but it was too late to think about leaving. The clock on the wall ticked a painful cadence in the thick, hanging silence between them. The blond raised a cigarette to his lips, took a calculated breath, and stepped over to the chair Gladiolus reluctantly sat in. That mouthful of smoke found its way against Gladiolus’ face and he coughed as the bitter fumes invaded his lungs, as if Ignis were saying,

_You’ve been caught, Amicitia._

_Shame on you._

Ignis’ gloved hand closed tightly in Gladiolus’ hair and yanked his head up, knocking his neck against the sharp back edge of the chair. The cigarette was quickly forgotten, crushed into an ashtray behind him at his desk.

“You have ten seconds to explain yourself,” Scientia hissed while his other hand reached toward his hips for his dagger. The dagger that he’d seen buried in countless other men, the dagger with carvings so intricate, so well-polished, Gladiolus was surprised such a beautiful weapon was used for murder. Swallowing back an unsteady gasp, Gladiolus raised his chin to meet Ignis’ eyes as the daggertip dug into his jaw.

“Ten.”

Gladiolus swallowed and tried to pull away, but the sharp sensation of breaking skin and cold metal stopped him from moving. His blood was on Ignis’ dagger now. On his hands. Ignis wasn’t going to make it out of this alive, and he seemed to understand that as he stared into Gladiolus’ eyes with a murderous, cold fury. He was determined to go down fighting.

“Nine.”

“Ignis - ”

 _“Eight; Amicitia, I am losing my patience with you,”_ Ignis growled, his mouth twisted into a wicked snarl.

“Ignis, please - ”

“Don’t you _‘Ignis, please’_ me, Amicitia. You betrayed me. You now have six seconds.”

A hundred frantic thoughts raced through Gladiolus’ mind as he attempted to calculate his next action in the remaining seconds he had. He could try to tackle Ignis, wrestle the dagger away, just go ahead and make the arrest, he had more than enough evidence - but he couldn’t. He would risk fatal injury and that had to be avoided at all costs. There was a gun in a hidden holster under his pants leg but he couldn’t reach for it or Ignis would know. He was trapped, an insect snared in Scientia’s web.

“Five.”

The dagger slowly pulled away from Gladiolus’ chin and he sucked in a hesitant breath, shuddering as a hot trickle of blood slipped down his neck. Instead of sheathing it, Ignis tucked the dagger flat against the top button of his shirt and cut it free.

“Four.”

_The transmitter._

“Alright, I’ll talk.”

“Three.” Another button, this time sent skittering across the floor as Ignis swiped the dagger in a single motion against the seam.

“I’ll talk! I said I’d talk! _Stop!”_

“Two.” A third button sliced away, and Gladiolus fought not to move. There was no use in trying to save himself now.

“Ah. So this… is what you had been hiding from me all along. No talking necessary,” Ignis mused, voice dark as he tore the transmitter from its place taped to his side and held it up to his mouth as if to kiss the small plastic box.

_“I’m honestly disappointed. You thought I didn’t know about the little tricks you tried to play on me? Amicitia is mine now, don’t bother rescuing him. I’ll be sure to send his body, and my warmest regards, to your office in the morning.”_

No words Gladiolus could summon made it past his throat and he felt them rising like acid into his mouth as Ignis took the receiver and dropped it to the floor, thoroughly crushing it beneath the heel of his pristine dress shoe.

“Now that we’re… alone, I have some questions for you.”

“I’m, uh… all ears.” Not that he had a choice. If anything, time was a luxury he couldn’t afford to lose, and hopefully engaging Ignis would give him a second chance at attempting to gain the upper hand. Or - even slimmer hoping - that his team could rescue him before Scientia took things past the point of no return.

“Get up.”

That same harsh grip in Gladiolus’ hair was more than enough to get him to stand, and he let Ignis drag him over to his desk. Scientia kicked his chair back and it hit the wall with a loud _thud,_ knocking the lamp off of the table’s edge and sending sparks through the room as the bulb shattered and the room went dark, save for what faint lines of light filtered in from outside. It cast eerie shadows against Ignis’ silhouette, and for the first time that evening Gladiolus felt true fear churning his gut.

Ignis just pushed Gladiolus over until his chest was flat against the desk, crushing old papers and folders and miscellaneous pens. The position was uncomfortable, putting it lightly, but the way Scientia twisted his arms up above his head and raised his knee to the edge of the desk had his breath catching. All Gladiolus could do was watch as Ignis expertly wrapped - that was _his tie_ \- around his wrists, the fabric surprisingly soft against his skin. Sitting perched perfectly against Gladiolus’ hips and the contact was almost too much…

A long tail hung from the end of the knot at his wrists and Ignis left it there. He hummed as if deciding if he wanted to pull it or not, but in the end decided against that in favor of something else.

“Now - I will put this in your own terms - we will begin your interrogation, _Detective.”_

The air in the dark was cold, but Ignis’ voice was even colder, and even had Gladiolus _shivering_ against the desk’s surface. Clinking metal and the slip of leather through fabric signaled something that set Gladiolus more on edge than Scientia’s former threats.

“Tell me, Amicitia, how long did you think it would take me to find out about your betrayal?”

“I…” Gladiolus paused to think. “I don’t know… I thought… I’d covered all my tracks.”

“You should know I don’t open up to just anyone that falls through my door. How do you know I wasn’t lying to you about all of my confessions? I cannot be punished for fictitious crimes, now, can I?”

_Crack._

The sharp sting of leather against Gladiolus’ backside had him flinching against the desk. His hips collided painfully with the edge as he snapped forward as if to retreat from the sudden pain, but instead he found himself hot with shame as he felt something _else_ building in his gut. The sensation stirred and brewed deep within him, fighting off the nauseating tension to give way instead to pain when the belt connected with his flesh a second time.

The yelp that left him was satisfying enough to Ignis, who almost tenderly rubbed at the biting welts that were surely forming under Gladiolus’ pants.

“There is one confession I have not lied to you about. I want you to guess what it is.”

_Crack._

_“Now,_ before I change my mind.”

“I - ! I… I don’t know!”

“Surely, Detective, you can do better than that.”

_Crack-crack._

Gladiolus bit down on his bottom lip and pressed his face into the desk. It was all he could do to attempt to retreat into himself, to hope that the pain would pass quickly. To hope that the tears blurring his vision that stained the reports beneath his head would go unseen. To pray to whatever was out there that he could steel himself enough to make it through whatever Scientia was going to do. But there was this nagging little thought in the back of his mind that kept teasing at his brain.

The thought that, perhaps, this was what he had wanted all along. Just not like this.

_“You never did tell me your preference,” Scientia had said one night over a shared bottle of brandy. His legs crossed ever-professionally and he watched Gladiolus with great interest as a gentle flush slipped against the man’s pale skin. “Pardon my curiosity.”_

_“Preference? Like what, for liquor?”_

_“No,” came the reply, and Ignis almost looked defeated as he sank his gaze to the glass in his hand._

_“You mean, then… like sexual preference?”_

_“Perhaps, yes.”_

_“Doesn’t really matter to me,” Gladiolus confessed, shrugging. The ice in his glass clinked together pleasantly as his hand moved with the gesture. “I’ve dated men, dated women, but I’ve never really thought much about it.”_

_Was that_ relief _in Scientia’s eyes?_

_“I see. I find it rather interesting that most of my men are the same as you and myself. I suppose in times of true need we find ways to keep ourselves among friends.”_

Gladiolus’ eyes snapped open.

“I know what you told the truth about,” he said, forcing his head up and back to meet Ignis’ eyes. There was that same cold stare, yet now the barest hint of amusement danced within.

“You… like men. Was that… really the only thing you didn’t lie to me about? Out of everything?”

Ignis raised the belt in his hand as if to strike again and Gladiolus winced reflexively, cursing himself - but there was no pain that followed.

Lowly, Scientia answered, “You are correct.”

“Damn, I didn’t…”

_CRACK!_

Gladiolus’ head hit the desk so hard he saw stars. In the split second he’d dropped his guard, Ignis forced him down by a fistful of his hair against the wood and in the same motion, had struck him again with the belt.

“When I said you betrayed me,” Ignis murmured, as the belt clattered to the floor, “I meant it. More than you think.”

The man’s gloved hand trailed over his stinging backside and Gladiolus kept trying to push away from the touch. It was impossible to move. Were his legs shaking? Sweat pooled against his skin and Gladiolus frowned, struggling to wipe it away by pressing his face into the side of his sleeve.

“You’re trembling,” Ignis noted as he reached forward, slipping Gladiolus’ pants button loose free to pull down the zipper and slip both pants and underwear past his hips in a single motion. The breath that left Ignis shuddered out of him as if in awe of his own handiwork. “Are you frightened, Amicitia?”

That was a question that they both knew shouldn’t - couldn’t - be answered.

“I will make one last deal with you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Business aside. Punishment, arrests, and reports all aside, let us forget all of that. Here, now, is our only chance at normality. At what may have been. Once we have finished, we will reassume our roles of ‘Detective’ and ‘Criminal,’ and…”

Scientia inhaled deeply as his hand traced the raised skin of Gladiolus’ ass, marveling at the subtle shivers and twitches of the muscle beneath his fingers.

“...And then, you may ask me anything you wish. I will not lie to you, and I will not fight you should you choose to detain me. I will give you anything and everything you need to know, and in exchange for this information you shall allow me to ‘disappear’ once you have what you need. This game was fun while it lasted, but I’m frankly growing tired of it… you’ve ruined my business, Amicitia, the least I could do to repay you once this is over with is to never see you again.”

“Ignis, I…”

“No more speaking, please. Our time together is all but burning away now, and I want you to know _exactly_ how much pain you’ve caused me. Are you ready?”

What could be worse, Gladiolus thought to himself, as he nodded, swallowing past the tightness in his throat. The gun against his leg weighed heavy but remained untouched. He had no choice. At least, that would be his story on the incident.

He hadn’t been expecting Ignis to get down on his knees behind him. And then something _wet_ between his parted cheeks. A frantic string of loud curses filled the room between quick, flustered pants. Gladiolus swore he could somehow taste the smirk on Ignis’ lips as they kissed his hole, tongue flicking steady and deep, _hot_ and _slick_ and _slow_ enough to have him writhing in a matter of seconds. A hum left Ignis as he wrapped his arms around Gladiolus’ thighs to hold him in place. This was quite possibly a worse punishment than pain, which Gladiolus wondered if he should have been preferring in that moment. Pain was impersonal; inflicted with careless, reckless hatred. But what Scientia was doing was calculated, precise, _intentional_ and it had him on the verge of breaking as he felt his erection pressing painfully hard against the desk.

“Ignis, we… we can’t - ”

 _“Hush._ We can, no one will hear us. Let go for me. I am not your enemy, right now. Do you understand?”

Gladiolus struggled to push himself up onto his elbows and hoped that his voice sounded steady enough as he answered. “Yeah, I understand. But I… I don’t…”

“You don’t what? You don’t want this?”

There was a gentle squeeze against Gladiolus’ thighs, a slight gesture in the moment.

All of Gladiolus’ hard work came back to him, everything that had gotten him to where he was standing at that moment. There was so much he’d wanted to do, to say, but his job kept him from acting on it. Ignis Scientia was the man he was sent to arrest, and yet, instead he found himself falling helplessly in love with him. That scarred beauty, powerful, intelligent; Ignis knew how to command his men with a single glance and Gladiolus too couldn’t resist.

“I want this,” the eventual response came, as Gladiolus hung his head low. “But I… I can’t choose between you and my job. If they find out, I’ll - ”

“Shh. They won’t find out. If you say nothing, then neither will I,” crooned Ignis softly, planting a kiss over the lingering red welts before trailing his hands and his kisses up Gladiolus’ arched back, pulling his shirt up as he moved. In the dark, it was just the two of them, bodies slotted together in a perfect fit. “Don’t think about that, right now. Allow yourself some selfishness. Indulge me, just this once.”

Ignis bent forward to grip the tail of his tie and pull Gladiolus’ wrists toward him. He fumbled through untying the knot in the low light, but was able to loosen it quickly nonetheless. The sting in his sore wrists barely registered as Gladiolus rubbed his hands together, trying to stretch the stiff muscles. What was Scientia doing?

It was when Ignis stepped away to search through the drawer to his left that Gladiolus realized he had his chance. He knew, if things were to continue, it wouldn’t end well for either of them - pleasure aside. It was better to leave the _what if’s_ as only that. No matter how much it hurt, how much it destroyed both of them.

_No going back now._

Gladiolus reached down for his pistol first and had just enough time to pull his pants back up. He ignored how much the motion stung. When Ignis reacted a split second later in surprise, stepping back, Gladiolus immediately pointed the gun at him.

“Don’t move; just put your hands up and keep them where I can see them.”

And in the faint light, Ignis did. He raised his own pistol, pulled from the drawer, level to Gladiolus’ arm and stepped forward with an all-too-cocky smirk on his lips.

“It seems we’re back to square one,” Scientia spat.

“Don’t make me do this, Ignis.”

“What, _shoot_ me? Please, I’ve dealt with far worse. I’ve already lost an eye to this profession. What more could you possibly hope to take from me?” Ignis’ smirk grew wider as he pressed his gun to his own head just above his ear. “What if I turned the tables on you? Then what?”

“Ignis, don’t - ”

“If I die, my information and your whole case dies with me. You know that, don’t you, Amicitia?”

“Put the gun down, we don’t have to end things like this.”

The smile on Ignis’ lips, the expression on his face, was wickedly mangled by sadness, fear, and anger all reflecting against his glasses as his finger tightened on the trigger.

The flash from a single bullet broke through the heavy darkness of the office.

Ignis hit the floor, dropping his gun as he clutched his bleeding thigh with a pained gasp.

_I shot Ignis. I just shot him. Oh, my god._

The thought ran rampant through Gladiolus’ mind as he kicked Ignis’ gun away and fought the slippery, blood-slicked hands away from the wound. He found himself putting pressure on the injury instead. So much was going on so fast it left his head and his gut spinning.

 _“It has to be this way, I see,”_ Ignis whispered, as blood pooled past his lips and left his dress shirt stained thick with crimson.

“Shut up, don’t talk; _fuck,_ I’m _sorry_ \- ”

_“Then let me… make it so you don’t have to be.”_

One last smile, bittersweet, before Ignis reached for Gladiolus’ dropped pistol and fired a single bullet into Gladiolus’ torso. The last thing Gladiolus saw was a tear slip from Ignis’ good eye before falling into darkness.


	2. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (a bonus chapter! I didn't want to leave this unposted because I wanted to include just a little bit more from this verse before ending the full story)

Gladiolus woke with a start, gagging when a sudden stabbing in his gut left his mind spinning, struggling to process the sheer amount of pain he was in. There was no dark office interior. No broken lamp on the floor, no guns, no blood, _no Ignis,_ nothing. The walls and floors were painted a painfully bright artificial white that was too difficult for him to look at. He closed his eyes and let out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He was in the hospital. How?

_Ignis._

For a brief moment Gladiolus wondered if everything had been a dream, but the fact that he’d woken up from said “dream” in a hospital with serious wounds quickly had him thinking otherwise.

A sudden vibrating made Gladiolus jump. It was just his cell phone, letting him know he had a missed call and a new message. He managed to turn to the table to pick up his phone, flipping it open and dialing his voicemail. The call had been made from a restricted number. He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but…

_“You know who this is. Do not save this message.”_

_Ignis._

_“Forgive me for hurting you. It was the only way. I’m sure you understand. This way, I could escape, and you… if you live through this, should not be at fault for anything. Why would you lose your job after being essentially ‘held hostage, and did all you could to escape my wrath?’ That is your story, yes? When I called an ambulance for you, I said nothing about the case. You were just another patient, in their eyes. As for me, I made sure to leave the office before they arrived. Just know this. I did what I did to save you. If you’re still interested in finishing your case, I have left my journal in my post office box. You know what number, you know where it is. Find it and it’s yours, for what useful information it may hold. If we do meet again, I hope it’s in better circumstances. Another life, perhaps. But before I go, I have… one last confession to make to you. Gladiolus.”_

It was the first time that he’d heard his first name leave Ignis’ lips, and it made his heart sink.

_“Gladiolus… I don’t have much more time to talk. Should you desire my company… my phone number is in that notebook. But you will have to decipher it. I wish I could tell you all the things on my mind but I - I have no time - Gladiolus, I lo - ”_

And then the message ended. Gladiolus’ hands trembled as he pressed ‘delete’ on his phone and snapped it shut. He wanted to throw the damn thing across the room. He needed to find that notebook. Then he would have his questions answered. Forget the questions, hours of interrogation and paperwork he’d get from headquarters, he needed answers _now._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :D I've been working on this off and on for a while and I'm glad to finish it between working on project drafts and finishing old drafts as well!


End file.
